Sunday, May 02, 2010

Republican Party To Rell – Bye, Bye

The relationship between the Republican Party and its governors has been, for the past few election cycles, an iffy proposition.

Gov. Lowell Weicker, for most of his political life a Republican, perfectly epitomizes the relationship. Weicker broke with his party very early in his career as U.S. senator, describing himself accurately at one point as “the turd in the Republican Party punchbowl.” Later, when he ran as an independent for governor, the Republican Party breathed a sign of relief at the self ejection.

Gov. John Rowland, swept into office on a kill the income tax pledge, was less abrasive; but still, when budget time rolled around he could be insistent that Republicans should back budgets that the party as a whole found troubling. The tax and spend proclivities of the ruling elite at the state capitol were out of sync with the ideological proclivities of most Republicans.

Gov. Jodi Rell, a creature of the legislature, was – it becomes possible now to speak of the governor in the past tense, because time is quickly running out on her lame duck administration – fatally primed by her past experience to accommodate fellow legislators, a majority of whom are Democrats.

Early in May, Republicans dropped out of budget talks between Rell and leading Democrats in the legislature. The fissure should surprise no one. The walk out -- and the stern refusal to participate in budget talks in which none of their ideas to attack the spending side of the budget have ever been seriously considered by what one might call the Rell-Donovan-Williams combine – is simply an affirmation of Republican principles, no more, no less. Chris Dovovan is the Speaker of the state House, and Don Williams is the President Pro-Tem of the State Senate.

Given the coming horror facing the state of Connecticut – growing budget deficits well into the future, a national economy on the brink of disaster, a walleyed purposefully deaf national legislature, a Democratic dominated state legislature averse to spending cuts and incapable of meeting its fiduciary responsibilities to the citizens of Connecticut, a go-long-to-get-along governor – Republican leaders, who have at close hand seen the future and know it will not work, decided to separate themselves from a dangerous imposture.

In the past, residual Republican governors – not excluding Weicker who, for virtually all his political life, wore the Republican Party label as a badge of dishonor – have been praised as pragmatists by the sort of people who cherish ever expanding budgets. But this kind of political pragmatism, which views every budget hole as a revenue problem, not a spending problem, has produced a misshapen offspring, a Cyclopsian legislature with one eye only perpetually fixed on increasing revenues.

Following the walk-out, Republican leaders, joined by more than 30 legislators, held a press conference at the state Capitol in which they announced they would no longer consent to serve as political scenery in what has come to be regarded by many people in Connecticut, some of whom work in the media, as a ritualistic farce.

Republican House leader Larry Cafero said, "Unfortunately, neither of our caucuses will be participating in any future discussions regarding the state budget. The governor and the Democrats are on the precipice of a budget agreement. ... We called for concessions. We called for the voluntary reduction of our workforce. We put forth all of our ideas. ... Our participation in that process has come to an end.''

Noting that the Donovan-Rell-Williams budget deal involves no move to privatize, no voluntary state employee early retirement incentive program, no consolidation of state services and no union concessions, Cafero characterized the budget deal as “business as usual - absolutely no change. We're still riding down that path on a train at 100 miles an hour, headed for that wall.”

On the other side of the aisle, smiles were bursting out like May flowers.

Democrats pounced on the Republican presser as election year posturing.

The Courant reported that one unnamed “capitol insider said the Republican press conference was ‘an out-and-out political maneuver in an election year.’''

Following the Republican presser Donovan, emerging breathlessly from the deep pockets of state unions, denied that a final deal had been reached by the Donovan-Rell-William combine, and predicted that budget agreement might be possible before the session ends on Wednesday.

"To quote James Brown,” the former union steward said, “I feel good.”

No capitol insider stepped forward to say that Donovan reluctance to force union concessions as the state disappears in an ocean of red ink was shameless political posturing in a shameful political year.